Conservative Candidates to look out for in Texas Primary

Texas has several elections with outsiders looking in and open seats where incumbents are not seeking reelection. The heavy hitting endorsements of Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, and Rick Perry are sure to have an impact in the Lone Star State during its open primary on March 6th. The Texas Primary has the chance to put reliable conservatives in office as opposed to the fiscally irresponsible RINOs we deal with most often. Candidates who don’t reach majority will have a runoff in the spring.

Anyone but Kathaleen Wall TX-02

Ted Poe is not running for reelection leaving a vacant seat, a theme you will gather from this article. There are many candidates running on the ballot. The worst of which appears to be Kathaleen Wall, a Democrat in disguise as a Republican. However she did snag the endorsement of Governor Abbott and Ted Cruz. Wall is sort of a Donald Trump, in the sense of a political outsider self-funding a campaign. She has poured over $5 million into the race. Her previous history is a political donor, a likely reason she has endorsements. Quite honestly, what’s best is for this race to go onto a runoff. Wall needs to undergo further scrutiny to prove she’s ready for Congress. And quite frankly a lot of questions about her arise. For instance, her opponents say that she voted for Clinton in the Democratic Primary, a questionable move if true. Then there’s also the concern about her buying this election. She’s not what I would call self-made, but she certainly married well. Other interesting candidates in this race are Kevin Roberts,Rick Walker, and Dan Crenshaw. This is not a judgement against Wall, only that I insist that she should not cross the majority threshold so early. Do research on her givings to Texas politics. The Democrats are likely to nominate Todd Litton in a massive effort to flip this seat, but the Blue Wave is still a stretch in a district where the GOP wins 60%+ of the vote for this seat.

Race Rating: Likely Republican

Van Taylor TX-03

Van Taylor serves in the Texas State Senate. His is one of the top conservatives in the legislature. Taylor is strong on both guns and protecting the unborn during his tenure in Texas. In 2016 he had a perfect conservative record in his young political career. This veteran is the real deal for voters seeking a young conservative in Congress. The Texas Third District was held for 25 years by Republican Sam Johnson. Johnson has decided not to seek reelection in November leaving a wide open seat. For Conservatives, this is a sold chance to upgrade to a stronger government limiting politician.

The Democrats don’t have as much of a chance in this election, as the Texas 3rd is a safe Republican seat. As for Van Taylor, he is the most formidable candidate with a lot of cash on hand and a powerful endorsement by Ted Cruz. This race is likely his.

Race Rating: Solid Republican

Jason Wright TX-05

In yet another race without an incumbent, their seem to be options for the voter of Texas 5th. This election will be decided on the primary seeing as Democrats don’t field a candidate every time. The most well backed candidate is Kenneth Sheets a former State Rep. who was voted out of a swing seat in 2016. He’s a former Marine and reliable conservative.

Howerver I like the potential for Jason Wright who worked on the Cruz Campaign in 2016 which earned him an endorsement from Ted. Something about his foresight in this appeals to me. And he just comes off as likable.

Race Rating: Solid Republican

Ron Wright or Jake Ellzey TX-06

Longtime Congressman Joe Barton is not seeking reelection, leaving a wide open race to fill the likely red seat. Leading the GOP is Ron Wright, the Tarrant County Tax Assessor. Wright has a long history of public service and has earned the endorsement of Ted Cruz. Wright has a lot of local backing as well as funding.

The other formidable Conservative is Jake Ellzey, a veteran Navy fighter pilot. His twitter seems dedicated to remembering the fallen and taking better care of veterans is a top campaign priority. Ellzey earned the endorsement of former Governor Rick Perry to counter the Cruz endorsement of Wright, along with “Lone Survivor” Marcus Luttrell.

Both these candidates seem like they would be reliable representatives for Conservatism. For fiscal conservatism, I have to go with Ellzey whose campaign is focused on security issues (border and immigration included) and reducing government. On social issues and federalism, Ron Wright has a slight edge. I won’t blame a conservative for voting either way, just keep it a friendly competition which AZ08 should have been. And if it goes to a runoff, then may the best man win.

Race Rating: Solid Republican

Edward Ziegler TX-07

Ted Cruz endorsed incumbent, John Culberson. However, Culberson is not, by definition, a fiscal conservative. Even with an (R) in the Whitehouse, he has done nothing to promote fiscal responsibility. The TX-06 deserves term limits. Edward Ziegleris running on these very points. His campaign stresses the liberal spending of Culberson and he is running counter to that. His website acknowledges that taxpayer money is not the government’s to freely spend. In this seat, the people need to enact term limits. Culberson has been in for over a decade, and the Democrats pose little opposition. Ziegler is the conservative choice in this race.

Race Rating: Lean Republican

Chip Roy TX-21

This is another race that has leftist salivating because it is a seat being vacated by Rep. Lamar Smith. The field is wider than any of the others. The seeming frontrunner is Chip Roy, former Chief of Staff to Ted Cruz, senior advisor to Rick Perry. He’s definitely an insider, even having worked with RINO, John Cornyn. Roy has been groomed for office and now is his chance. The home page of his website conveys a lot of fatigue with campaign conservatives who then turn RINO. In this wide open race, I’d trust Chip Roy.

Race Rating: Solid Republican

Alma Arredondo-Lynch TX-23

Alma Arredondo-Lynch is a political outsider seeking to unseat Republican Will Hurd. Hurd is one of the most leftist GOP Congressmen in the House. The Conservative Review Liberty Score gives him a 35%, the worst of any Texan Republican. Will Hurd also called on Trump to drop out of the race over his locker-room talk tape.

Arrendondo-Lynch on the other hand has every sign of being real conservative. On her website she quips at Hurd’s leftism stating “My opponent is the only “Republican” from the State of Texas to vote in favor of Obama’s transgender bill, forcing employers to allow these transgenders to use the women’s bathrooms. It had never been a problem before. I grew up using transgender bathrooms; they were called outhouses.” She’s strong on guns and immigration. She’s unafraid of acknowledging the RINO in the room.

The Texas 23rd is a battleground race that the Democrats are looking to capture. I would argue that Republicans are most in danger nominating a RINO. It’s not a winning strategy, but is a likely outcome.

I completely understand your lack of optimism in regards to Cruz. He’s been slipping in my book as well. He’s made some good endorsements and some bad endorsements with no consistency except maybe friendship. I’m still a fan but not a huge one.

The GOP has refused to learn from Trump’s victory.

Once Donald Trump secured not only the nomination, but the Presidency, I thought perhaps that the GOP establishment would be smart enough to learn from this event. It should have been easy to see that the “catastrophe” that they saw in front of them would be a wake-up call to stop supporting moderate to liberal candidates like John McCain, Mitt Romney, and John Kasich. It seemed obvious to me that, whatever you might feel about Trump, the rank and file members of the GOP were in open rebellion against a party that had no interest in actually fulfilling conservative principles like limited government, liberty, and the rights of the people to choose for themselves.

The likes of Mitch McConnell and political operatives (hacks, actually) like Bill Kristol and Rick Wilson would surely see that they needed to stop supporting liberal Republicans like Kasich and Jeff Flake. Right? I mean this was so obvious my 5-year-old could figure it out.

Boy was I wrong.

Instead, the GOP has doubled down on their desire to control the political winds. Like the Democrats do with their “super delegates” in their Presidential nomination process, it is clear that the GOP establishment feels it cannot and should not trust the people to make the best decisions for themselves. Thus far, the GOP has made no move to institute a “super delegate” system in the Presidential nominating process, but with what we’re seeing so far in the 2018 mid-term elections, it is clear that that scenario is a real possibility.

The DC establishment has made it clear that they will manipulate the mid-term elections in such a way that, should they actually maintain control of both the House and Senate, they want it to be full of Republicans that really are not distinguishable from their Democratic colleagues in any significant way.

The Bad News

It is not unusual for the GOP to support their incumbents. From their perspective, if it’s not broke, why fix it, right? Well, the problem is that it IS broken. We have sitting Republicans who have been there for years or even decades, many of whom have done little to nothing to preserve liberty and much to line their own pockets.

In the Georgia 7th Congressional district, Rob Woodall, who is in his 4th term already and was a DC political operative for many years before that, has a voting record that is little different from your average Southern or Mid-Western Democrat. Shane Hazel, a former Marine Force Recon combat veteran who still today works to equip and train our fighting men and women in the private sector, is taking on Woodall, but meeting resistance not just from Woodall, but also from political operatives who don’t want to upset their establishment bosses.

Banks Wise, Hazel’s campaign manager, recently told me the story of how Mike Seigle, the Gwinnett County Republican Chairman, stonewalled them on debates with Woodall. To make a long story short, Seigle seems to have dodged phone calls for weeks on end after promising debates, and then eventually called them off because of his own delays.

“Shane is committing a political no-no,” as Wise put it, “in challenging a sitting Republican Congressman.” In my view, if the GOP were committed to the principles of We the People choosing our own representatives, or if they thought Woodall was really the best candidate, then Seigle and Woodall should have had no problem at all with Woodall debating Hazel.

The truth is though that the GOP is very much afraid of We the People making our own decisions regarding who we want representing and leading us. They don’t like the fact that Trump was nominated. They flat out hate the fact that he was elected, and many of those with insufferable arrogance, like Bill Kristol, Rick Wilson, and Tom Nichols would have flat out rather seen a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016. They may see Clinton as a political adversary, but she isn’t their enemy. We are.

In a nearly unprecedented move, the GOP has not only put their full support behind their incumbents, they have also gone so far as to decide who the GOP nominee should be for Senate in seats they don’t currently hold.

One of the most poachable Senate seats this year is the one in Missouri currently held by Claire McCaskill. Jeff Carson, campaign manager for Austin Petersen, told me that it was odd the way they were seeing the establishment pull out all the stops for their preferred candidate, Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley. Anyone who has done even five minutes of research on Hawley knows he would be a lap dog for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other weak Republican leaders.

Love him, hate him, or indifferent to him, it’s undeniable that Donald Trump resonated with voters who were normally indifferent, likely because he doesn’t use the normal GOP political tactic of curling up in a corner, sucking on his thumb, and saying “please don’t hurt me” when the routine and meaningless leftist accusations of racism and sexism came flying at him (looking at YOU, Mitt Romney).

Hawley won’t be able to connect with voters who don’t see a difference between the GOP establishment and the Democrats. The establishment would have rather lost to Hillary Clinton than won with Trump. It seems in Missouri they’d rather lose with Hawley than win with a Constitutionalist who they can’t control like Petersen.

The establishment is further involving themselves in state elections that have little bearing on DC as well, but this time using big donors to support a mediocre candidate rather than a Constitutionalist. Former Army Ranger and current Georgia gubernatorial candidate Hunter Hill told me a couple days ago that they are seeing a great deal of money flowing the way of their biggest opponent, Casey Cagle, the state’s Lieutenant Governor.

The Good News

The GOOD news is that the rank and file members of the GOP seem to be fighting back like never before. Hunter Hill said, “The political class is definitely coalescing around Cagle, with career politicians like Orin Hatch coming to stump for him, but the people are seeing our message and it is resonating. We are in 2nd place in the polls, and with Georgia being a runoff state, we like our chances.” Hill also informed me that they were actually doing a fairly good job raising money, but not so much from the big donors, but from average Georgians and other American conservatives who want to see a true conservative become governor of one of the 13 original states.

Perhaps the conservative faithful of the GOP are fighting back?

The mainstream media no longer has an iron grip on messaging. With social media like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, candidates are able to get their message out without the gatekeepers in the media keeping them silent. “We have an effective social media campaign going,” Hunter Hill told me, “and getting our message out in that way is effective.”

However, social media is still controlled by Leftists, with Petersen recently getting a 30-day suspension from Facebook over the issue of 2nd Amendment rights. This form of private censorship should be telling. It’s obvious that the left-leaning Facebook would rather have McCaskill face off against Hawley than Petersen. Why might that be exactly? Seems they believe McCaskill would have an easier time against Hawley.

On the other hand, Erin Cruz, running for Senate in California against Diane Feinstein, who is seeking yet another term that would take her into her 90s, is seeing her messaging blowing up all over social media. While the GOP establishment may be somewhat apathetic to this race as one they can’t win, Erin Cruz is certainly giving the aging Democrat a run for her money as the staunch conservatives in California, tired of seeing their state fall deeper and deeper into Socialism, seem to be enthusiastic over the first-time candidate’s run.

Dr. Ken Wright seems to be doing the same in the California 33rd, a district so blue that the GOP wasn’t even going to run anyone in 2016 until Wright stepped in and got nearly 40% of the vote with no real support. Now that he has support, could Dr. Wright unseat the twisted and corrupt Ted Lieu? It seems that now is the time.

The Upshot

There is plenty of fault to be found in the establishment’s desire to run squish candidates that they can control, but it is ultimately the responsibility of We the People to get out there and decide for whom to vote. People need to take individual responsibility before going to the primary polls and voting for who really represents them.

Each of us must decide for ourselves who really represents us. Do we want judicial nominees and treaties being decided by Constitutionalists like Petersen, or establishment lap dogs like Hawley? Do we want to be represented in the People’s House by stalwart citizens like Shane Hazel, or lifelong politicos like Rob Woodall? Do the people of Georgia want to be governed by a career politician like Casey Cagle, or American heroes like Hunter Hill?

And what about those places where the GOP has just given up? Will Californians rebel against corrupt Democrats like Ted Lieu and Dianne Feinstein and put in their place men and women of honor like Dr. Ken Wright and Erin Cruz? I sure hope so.

Trump’s victory in 2016 in no way saved us. It simply delayed the continuing onslaught of big government that wants to control every aspect of our lives. Get out there and vote, Conservatives. It’s time to finally teach the GOP establishment that they are NOT in charge, we are.

It has come to my attention that President Trump has re-nominated Chai Feldblum to her position as commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This news has brought me grave concern.

On behalf of the American people, it is up to you and the rest of the Senate to remedy this unfortunate situation.

As you are aware, the EEOC deals with cases of workplace discrimination; having the power to enforce federal laws, investigate discrimination complaints, regulate and pursue legal charges against private businesses, and influence public opinion. It is imperative that any federal agency entrusted with such powers be steered by the conscientious counsel of unbiased leadership.

A former college basketball coach once said, “Offense is not equal opportunity.” However, since her appointment by former President Obama in 2010, Ms. Feldblum has exploited her position at the EEOC to offensively further her own fanatical advocacy goals at the expense of religiously-oriented American citizens, the Bill of Rights be damned.

Religious liberty, inviolable and protected from governmental infringement by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, is richly ingrained in our country’s values, having been secured by the blood of our ancestors. In fact, religious liberty, often referred to by the Founders as freedom of conscience, was considered by early Americans to be so precious that, even in the midst of America’s fight for independence, conscience objections were considered sacrosanct.

Consider the words of America’s first President, George Washington, in a letter to Benedict Arnold during America’s Revolutionary War:

“While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the conscience of others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to Him only in this case are they answerable.”

For Chai Feldblum, however, religious freedom must be subjugated with the full force of the government’s ugly fist.

She is, in a word, tyrannical.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines tyranny as “a rigorous [strict] condition imposed by some outside agency or force,” as imposed by a tyrant.

A tyrant is defined as “one resembling an oppressive ruler in the harsh use of authority or power.”

Ms. Feldblum has made several deeply troubling statements that betray her tyrannical intentions, wholly at odds with America’s founding principles:

“I’m having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win… Sexual liberty should win in most cases. There can be a conflict between religious liberty and sexual liberty, but in almost all cases the sexual liberty should win because that’s the only way that the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner (emphasis mine).”

“I believe granting liberty to gay people advances a compelling government interest, that such an interest cannot be adequately advanced if ‘pockets of resistance’ to a societal statement of equality are permitted to flourish, and hence that a law that permits no individual exceptions based on religious beliefs will be the least restrictive means of achieving the goal of liberty for gay people (emphasis mine).”

Ms. Feldblum’s seditious statements are in dramatic contrast to what Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1774, in Emblematic Representations:

“The ordaining of laws in favor of one part of the nation,to the prejudice and oppression of another, is certainly the most erroneous and mistaken policy. An equal dispensation of protection,rights, privileges, and advantages, is what every part is entitled to, and ought toenjoy (emphasis mine)”

In addition, Ms. Feldblum’s thesis on the proper role of government is unequivocally incompatible with the words spoken by President Thomas Jefferson during his first inaugural address, 1801:

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.”

Chai Feldblum’s offensive advocacy through the EEOC is so extreme and outside of Constitutional bounds that, in 2012, the usually divided Supreme Court of the United States ruled unanimously against Feldblum’s EEOC attempt to void the “Ministerial Exemption,” which allows leeway for religious organizations to carry out routine, religiously-related matters of hiring and terminating employees.

While Ms. Feldblum claims to represent the LGBTQ+ community, she speaks only for a small, yet loud portion of the demographic; one comprised almost entirely of radical LGBTQ+ activists.

In truth, Ms. Feldblum’s fanatical, extremist, ideologically-driven agenda only serves to marginalize a significant portion of sexual minorities, in addition to women and countless Americans of religious orthodoxy.

Ignoring the conservative, sexual minorities who disapprove of the forced subjugation of religious Americans, Ms. Feldblum propagates stereotypes of the various people she claims to represent, and actively encourages neighbors to go to war with neighbors.

Feldblum insists on a “zero-sum” game, where religious Americans and members of the LGBTQ+ community are incapable of living peaceably side-by-side. As the architect of former President Obama’s Transgender executive order, Feldblum further victimizes traumatized women and children, insisting they must tolerate an unsafe existence, as grown men are ushered into their locker rooms and bathrooms in the name of “progress.” Feldblum insists on subjugating religious, yet same-sex attracted business owners in the private market, drastically hindering their pursuit of happiness through economic independence. Feldblum insists that all LGBTQ+ Americans think as she does.

Ms. Feldblum is a tyrant; wholly unworthy of another five years at the helm of the EEOC.

Speaking on the sacredness of religious liberty in America, Samuel Adams stated, August 1, 1776:

“Driven from every other corner of the earth freedom of thought and the right of private judgment in matters of conscience direct their course to this happy country as their last asylum.”

The responsibility, Senator Alexander, now rests with you and the Senate to protect religious liberty as vigorously and as confidently as our Founding Fathers.

If you fail to perform this duty, this great test of your legacy as one of the leaders of the free world, may the words of Samuel Adams haunt you for the remainder of your days:

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”

Most sincerely,

Paige Rogers, Tennessee

Related

Rick Saccone or Blue Wave. That’s the lesson?

By this time Conor Lamb has not officially been declared the winner, but in all likelihood, unless Rick Saccone wins a supermarjority of the absentee ballots, most of which come from Lamb’s friendliest county, Rick Saccone will walk away from this one tail between the legs. However, the specific outcome of this race does not dwarf the fact that Saccone had no business pursuing a higher office. Earlier in this election cycle, I wrote a piece called Blue wave looking weak in Pennsylvania special election. I mistakenly made, based off the actions of the Democrats, that this race was Saccone’s for the grabbing. At the time polling showed Saccone winning and Democrats appeared to be consolidating their funds elsewhere. What I remain well-foresighted on was my critique of Rick Saccone and Conor Lamb as well. Saccone’s background served as little justification for a State Rep seeking a promotion.

Rick Saccone will in my mind comes away as the winner on March 13th. However, he is not nearly suitable for the job as he should be. He legislative record is one of recognizing days of the year as special for a person or group. He does not have a record of sponsoring serious conservative legislation. Though he does have a record of voting conservative, he isn’t a leader on the issues he is campaigning on. The GOP is right to break the bank for his campaign as they aren’t short on cash in this moment. Saccone isn’t a strong candidate in my opinion, but, with some bankroll, he is.

Blue Wave?

So the disastrous election day for Saccone isn’t terrible surprising, nor are we lack for a clear explanation. Connor Lamb, as I noted in the article, was a good candidate. He had experience he could leverage in order to convince voters to vote for him. A good military background and experience as a US Attorney out-qualified the placeholding State Representative. But Democrats are rushed to assume Rick Saccone’s shortcomings are a setback on the Trump administration. I believe that campaigning is a skill, and some people really suck at it: Mitt Romney. Conor Lamb is good while Saccone blew a double digit lead [insert Warriors or Falcons meme here] that Trump won the district with in the 2016 Election. Such a swing could indicate that leftism is on the rebound one year following Trumpism in power. But this would only be true if indeed Conor Lamb campaigned as a leftist. Alas, leftists should halt their celebration of a Blue Wave, for Conor Lamb ran more as a Dan Lipinski than a Marrie Newman.

The Lesson

While Democrats might be ever so inclined to believe that leftism has an appeal among the common folks, Conor Lamb ran as a complete moderate. Rick Saccone relied on tribalism, the premise of any Democrat being worse than any Republican. Democrats ought to learn that foregoing elitist leftist ideals will better serve their 2018 chances. But they won’t. We shall see just how well the Blue Wave fairs for all the leftist senators campaigning in states Trump won. Republicans are like to take this race as a wake-up call to defend that which they have spent years trying to gain. But every race is, in moderate or large degree, independent of up or down the ballots. Conor Lamb winning shows that Rick Saccone had no business running. Candidates matter is a lesson we should all learn. Rick Saccone was the regrettable choice for Republicans.